Thrivent Financial

You know what they say, you’re only as good as your latest $35M multi-platform campaign. “Invested In,” is a national campaign for the Minneapolis-based Fortune 100 company. Yes, Fortune 100, and yet you’ve never heard of it. This campaign aims to change that with a distinct point of difference that stands out in the crowded investment space: “Money isn’t the goal, it’s a tool to get you to the goal.” With that insight and client buy-in, the campaign took flight across broadcast, print, social, digital and even experiential. This campaign was awarded two Gold American Marketing Awards and named “Campaign of the Year” in two separate categories, Financial and Insurance.

Thrivent Campaign Highlight Reel

American Marketing Awards "Campaign of the Year"

National TV to launch campaign

DRTV

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AMA "Campaign of the Year" Insurance Category

Fullpage Wall Street Journal

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Instagram campaign

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Twitter campaign

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LinkedIn campaign

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Minneapolis Start Tribune

The Minneapolis Star Tribune featured Thrivent and its bold new campaign this year. Here is the link:

https://www.startribune.com/schafer-how-thrivent-is-gently-raising-its-distinctive-profile-in-a-moment-of-change/572045252/

FM Global Insurance

FM Global is the world's largest commercial property insurer, and the idea of “Resilience” was their first global campaign. As the global creative director, I worked with Ogilvy offices in the UK, Paris, and Frankfurt to develop a 360˚ campaign that included a new website, a UX microsite, social that sent daily tweets about topical examples of "resilience," print, and videos which we shot to support the idea. I even VO’d the two-minute brand piece.

FM Global "Resilience"

FM Global Microsite

Viewers toggle back and forth during a key moment in a sport when resilience will determine the outcome. The full microsite lives here: www.fmglobal.com/resilience.

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MSNBC

MSNBC became the fastest-growing network in all of cable. And what a time it was to have led the creative behind these important and increasingly iconic shows, pundits and journalists. I'm especially proud of this work because of the importance the messaging carried. I'm also proud that MSNBC earned two Promax nominations and took home a Silver award this year.

"PRESIDENTS"

"CHET HUNTLEY"

"ROADS"

"ELUSIVE"

"Creepy Nixon"

"Tough Love"

"HARDBALL"

"Moment: Al Gore"

"Moment: Jacob Soboroff"

"Telemundo World Cup"

DuPont

How do you to take a 200 year-old chemical company and transform it into a modern-day science company? That was the challenge. I ran this account globally, overseeing creative work from offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Delhi, Sao Paulo and Beijing. The work showcased here is just four of DuPont’s many “sub-brands,” and highlights the ways I tried to make the company relevant to its ever-changing consumer.

DuPont Kevlar "Mammoth"

Dare Bigger was the campaign idea and tag line we created for Kevlar, the protective fiber everyone knows in bullet-proof vests but very few realize is in their everyday products. Web content and a partnership with ESPN XGAMES put Kevlar (and DuPont) in the conversation with a new generation of consumer.

DuPont Kevlar "Monster Surf"

Dupont Kevlar "Armada Skis"

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Mini-Documentary Sizzle

Award-winning mini documentaries shot around the world in support of a groundbreaking content partnership between the BBC and DuPont. The documentaries highlighted DuPont science developed to save lives, nourish our growing population and supply energy to a planet demanding alternative sources.

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DuPont AR

DuPont’s and Fortune magazine’s first-ever Augmented Reality ad that literally brought the world to life and allowed readers to access DuPont’s mini-doc series highlighting the company’s innovation around the globe.

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DuPont Shunya

This won India’s grand prize in OOH advertising. A simple (analog) billboard that highlighted Mumbai’s problem and solution depending on when a person was standing in front of it.

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Print and collateral work for a complex B2B brand, Nutrition & Health. The idea was a simple one: the secret ingredient to the foods you love is the relationship that food companies have with the brightest minds of DuPont.

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Ti-Pure paint products are remarkable in that one coat of even the lightest and brightest paint will expertly cover the darkest, most resistant paints. Complex ingredient brand told with simple relevance.

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We all know nothing sticks to Teflon. Let’s tell the story from the food’s perspective.

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Mercedes-Benz

In a down economy it’s hard to sell a luxury product, let alone a luxury performance car. We did, always striking the classic Mercedes-Benz tone of the desire for craftsmanship.

Mercedes-Benz "Summer Love"

Mercedes-Benz Hybrid "Tree"

Mercedes-Benz Certified Pre-Owned

New York Life Investments

:90 video and B2B print to launch the investment firm’s new brand positioning. I worked directly with the client serving as writer, creative director and co-executive producer.

New York Life Investments

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NYU Stern

A new brand effort that features the talents of Noma Bar, the award-winning animator/illustrator. To support this video, we turned to local NYU artists and asked them to interpret the word “change.” These art installations will be unveiled soon.

NYU Stern Business School

New animated short collaborated with award-winning illustrator Noma Bar.

Bud Light

This was a spot I did “on spec” and somehow the executive producer got it in front of Augie Busch. He saw it, loved it, and replaced Goodby’s spot with it on Survivor.

Bud Light "Stranded"

Bank of America

I was the group creative director on this $250M financial account and helped rebrand the institution with the line “Bank of Opportunity.”

Bank of America "Lone Coins"

Bank of America "Bike"

Green Monster Billboard

This billboard, located at the exit to Fenway Park on the Mass Pike, was an exact replica of the famed Green Monster. We changed the message every day for a month, hanging individual tiles the way the scoreboard is updated in Fenway, to reflect the previous night's game. This one appeared on Opening Day, of course.

NBC Nightly News

“The Story Told Nightly,” was a line I wrote and a campaign I created with Judy Robinson before I left the network. It was a new campaign for Nightly that gave the broadcast an attitude adjustment. It was graphic, unapologetic and bold, and it recently help reaffirm Nighty News’ #1 rating in America. Before the new campaign, I created “Understanding Matters,” a campaign that helped viewers get to know who Lester Holt really is and what makes him tick as a journalist. The campaign was shot by the acclaimed docu director, Gotham Chopra, and earned a Promax nomination.

Nightly News "The Story"

Nightly News "Challenges"

Nightly News "Human"

Nightly News "What We Do"

Nightly News "Manchester"

Sony

A small oddities shoppe fronts the future of television. When we shot the vampire spot on set people kept asking what movie we were filming.

Sony "Vampire

Sony "Kite Soaring"

TODAY Show

The last thing I did before opting to depart NBC was work with a great animation company in the UK called Nomint. They produced this fun animated joy ride of quick :15s and filled them with little Easter Eggs for viewers. Also, what’s not to like about Halloween on the #1 morning show in America? We had a lot of fun spoofing two very spoofable (is that a word?) sci-fi and horror classics. Plus, I had the challenge of introducing NBC's $69M firebrand to TODAY viewers — she was a pleasure to work with. Seriously, she was.

Holiday

Music Box

Twilight Halloween

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Halloween Dummy

Digital Banners that tied into both TODAY Halloween spots. The banners linked viewers to a special TODAY microsite featuring all things tricks and treats for show fans.

Megyn Kelly "Lullaby"

Megyn Kelly "Family"

Megyn Kelly "Coffee"

MSNBC Print&Social

Immediately following the election results our country was never more divided in modern history. We wanted to run a brand message but were really at a loss for what to say. This visual solution seemed to say exactly what the country now needed to do.

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Every marketer was getting into the Olympic conversation. We had to find a way to make MSNBC relevant in that space. For us, the Olympics meant a time for the world to just get along, if only briefly.

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From the ‘16 campaign trail the news came fast and furiously. A story one day was old news the next. This campaign reflected the rapid-fire news cycle of the time.

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To celebrate National Women’s Month, a very simple and very natural message from MSNBC. Obviously, we were the only brand that could run this idea.

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When Congressman Scalise was shot during the GOP’s baseball practice it was quickly confirmed that the game would go on as scheduled. It was an opportunity for us to use our National Pastime as a healing event.

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Lockup

With half a million followers on Facebook, we knew MSNBC Lockup fans live for vicarious prison viewing. To promote the latest season on social media we created a countdown five days out from the premiere, just to get them in the mood.

Meet the Press

Meet the Press is the longest running show on television, spanning 71 years and counting. What I found fascinating was the show’s growth within the 18-34 demo. Essentially, we didn’t need to create the next “This isn’t your father’s Oldsmobile” campaign; the Trump administration was giving our audience every reason to tune in Sunday mornings. However, we still had to reward these younger viewers (film festival) while continuing to promote the show to our base audience.

Meet The Press Film Festival

To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the show we created the first-ever Meet the Press Film Festival and held it, where else, in Washington D.C. Hosted by Chuck Todd, “Issues in Focus” featured a night of short films spotlighting some of the political and social issues that plague our nation. We culled the more than 200 entries to 16 — two of which were nominated for Academy Awards — and held Q&As with the directors afterward. Some of these films will run as long-form content on the MSNBC network in 2020.

We had the idea for a full page ad on a Wednesday evening. It ran four days later in the New York Times.

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Ad Council / PSA

The Christopher Reeve Foundation is continually gaining ground in spinal chord research. One day, people in wheelchairs will walk again. This out of home idea gave a glimpse of what that will soon look like as people simply waited for their bus.

Boxing Hall of Fame

I love boxing, and when I learned the sport not only had a Hall of Fame but it was in New York, this became a dream project.

Dave & Buster's

Everyone needs to Feed Your Fun. I helped pitch and win this business then produce TV and a social experience where people could create their own “fun” and compete against one another.

Dave&Buster's "Following"

Dave&Buster's "Double Date"

Vlasic

How do you modernize an iconic like the Vlasic Stork? Very, very carefully. Here was the process. We also modernized his snarky personality and brought him into the digital world, giving him a comfy microsite to call “home.”

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Wingspan and intrinsic features down to the talons were computed and sketched.

Facial expressions and body language were essential. We were very cognizant not to veer into the “dopey, old bird” world. (Isn’t advertising fun?) We wanted a Stork with a bit of ‘tude.

Once sketches were done, the CGI work commenced.

Once the new Stork was designed, it was time to introduce him in a fresh way, but keeping his snarky personality.

Vlasic Web Tease

Vlasic Microsite

Vlasic BBQ

Healthcare

J&J Heartline Study

J&J and Apple combined for a revolutionary new study to detect and treat AFib. I wrote the site and app copy. Click the image above to see how it works.

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Hospital for Special Surgery

We’re living the age of hospital expanse. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that quality care is coming to your community. HSS is the expert in orthopedic surgery. There isn’t an outpost in every neighborhood for good reason. So when they announced a branch in Florida, it demanded a statement with gravitas.

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Wall Street Journal Ad touting NYU Langone’s overhaul of one of the most underfunded, underachieving hospitals in the country, right here in Brooklyn.

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HCP work for Allergan and website copy for a clinical trial

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Greenway Health

They wanted a new tag line and a rally cry that made doctors remember why they went to med school in the first place. They ran the entire manifesto on their landing page.

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NYU Langone

NYU Langone 10 Year Video

NYU Langone Coffee Table Book

I was contracted to write a collector’s book that captures the spirit of NYU’s heralded Silverstein Scholarship Award. The book commemorated the first full class of NYU students to go through med school with this distinguished honor. To create the book I conducted interviews with each of the 20 scholarship recipients, and created a “Rolling Stone” magazine-style Q&A format to give them a platform to express their gratitude.

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GE ANIMATED SHORT

This idea was the winning entry in a global contest for BBDO. The agency paid to produce the winning idea for their long-standing client.

GE "The Crossing"

"America's Funniest Commercial"

You know those Top Tens that networks do every end of December? Hosted by Kevin Nealon, hey it ain’t Kevin Hart, this spot for Accu-Serve Copy Repair Company was named “America’s Funniest Commercial.” Thank you, Academy, thank you.

Accu-Serve, "Copy That"

My Favorite Ad

The history of the martini is fascinating. And the man who drank a ton of them is my hero. The ad wrote itself.

Voice-Over & Copywriting

Sometimes the best person to bring a script to life is the person who created it. Here are three examples of scripts I’ve written and gone on to voice over. What’s interesting is, the music in all three videos was the music I listened to when writing the scripts. Sometimes your work actually ends up completely how you envisioned it.

Signet Love Inspires

Signet’s launch of its new brand purpose: To inspire love and foster change to create the kind of world we all want to live in. Written and voiced-over by me.

NYU Denstistry

I wrote the script and did the Voice-Over for NYU Dentistry’s first campaign, “Imagine a World Where Everyone Smiles.”

FM Global "Resilience"

Script and Voice-Over for FM Global’s campaign, “When You’re Resilient, You’re in Business.”

Brand Experience

Some of the brands I’ve been fortunate enough to have worked on. Some iconic, some eclectic, some providing a much needed voice in today’s media landscape. Collectively they run the gamut from luxury cars to pizza and beer, the #1 news network to the nation’s most-watched sport.